Professional SQL Server 7.0 Programming

You may find it strange that I recommend this book for DBAs interested in SQL Server performance tuning. The reason I do is that as a DBA, you should have a good grasp of Transact-SQL if you really want to master SQL Server optimization techniques. This is because much SQL Server performance tuning has to do with optimizing Transact-SQL code used in VB code, scripts, and stored procedures.

This book does a fairly good job of teaching the user how to program in Transact-SQL. Virtually every chapter includes tips on how to optimize Transact-SQL code, although there are only two chapters devoted specifically to performance tuning. You will want to read the entire book to learn everything you can about the nuances of Transact-SQL.

Some of the chapters that you should specifically read include:

Joining Tables

Normalization and Other Basic Design Issues

Speeding Performance: SQL Server Storage and Index Structures

Code Storage: Stored Procedures

Transactions and Locks

SQL Cursors

Performance Tuning

This book is not designed for the beginning DBA. It is quite technical and you should already have a good grasp of SQL Server before you begin reading this “must-have” book.